This Sunday, there was a combined Relief Society / Priesthood Meeting. Our Bishop began to relay a message to us holding examples of real-life tires (worn evenly, worn unevenly, a blown out tire that has lost its thread and then a shredded tire.
The message took about an hour, but let me summarize the main ideas of what he said:
The road is like the straight and narrow path in life.
We can be likened to a tire. A tire that is aligned with the gospel wears evenly and last a while. A tire that isn’t aligned (to the gospel) properly will wear out faster and unevenly. A tire that has too much pressure or too little pressure and overloaded can blow out when traveling on the road. A shredded tire is a total catastrophic failure from all factors: not being aligned, not pressured correctly, overloaded, adverse road conditions.
The front tires would be the parents of a family: both mother and father. They turn together and guide the entire car and back wheels.
The back wheels would be the children. They follow where the parents go. They follow our examples.
The suspension that connects the tire to the car is likened to the gospel and scriptures that we have: The Bible (Old Testament, New Testament), the Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and modern revelation. They absorb the roughness in the road and keep the front tires tracking straight.
The steering column is likened to the Prophet on Earth that we have today, Gordon B. Hinckley. Input from the steering wheel is transferred to the steering column, which turns the suspension and finally the front tires.
Heavenly Father would be the steering wheel and person behind it. Giving revelation to the Prophet, which is the steering column.
The family would be the entire car, made up of all the previous components connected together going down the road of life.
Jesus Christ is the master mechanic. He can fix anything on the car. Normally when you have an unevenly worn tire, blown out or shredded tire you would just buy a new one. Not Jesus Christ. He can repair any tire.
Being a car freak and total nerd, I completely enjoyed and appreciated the message that he brought forth. It is a very good analogy and puts everything in perspective in an automotive point of view.